Ironing-board.



H. E. PAULI.

IRONING BOARD.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 12. 1915.

Patented Mar. 28, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I. 7 4

H. E. PAULI.

I RONING BOARD.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 12. I915.

Patented Mar. 28, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- mmw' H. E. PAULI.

IRONING BOARD.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 12, 1915.

Patented Mar. 28, 1916.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

EFWGSZ auZZ,

HENRY ERNEST raum, 01* EAST cLEvELaNn, omo.

momma-BOARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 2a, 1916..

Application filed March 12, 1915. Serial No. 14,022.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY ERNEST PAULI,

of East Cleveland, in the county of Cuya- 10 The primary object of my present invention is to provide a light weight, firm and indestructible ironing-board at a low cost,with firm and rigid supporting means, which may be folded into a small space, yet offer no 15 obstruction when in use to the operators feet, or to the ironing of hollow garments of clothes of any shape.

Further objects are, to produce a practical steel ironing-board; to provide means for 20 quickly and conveniently attaching the board to or detaching it from an extraneous support, such as a table or window-sill, and for adjusting said means to the height and thickness of said support; to provide means g5 adapted to serve the double purpose of padding, and both heat and electrical insulation, which also dispenses with the necessity of a flat-iron stand; to arrange for attaching a,

sleeve-board; and. to provide convenient g and effective means for stretching and holdthe usual cloth covering.

Minor objects will become apparent from the following description of embodiments of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view, and Fig. 2 is a side elevation partly in section, and Fig. 3 is a rear end elevation, partly sectioned, of the ironing board and attachments in position ready for use.- Fig. 4 is a detailed view of the under side of a sleeve-board. Fig. 5

is an enlarged cross-section of the ironingboard. Fig. 6 is a sectional side elevation of the rear end of the board and its clamp- L5 ing means, and Fig. 7 is an end view of the same, being sectioned on line 7-7 of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a side elevation, partly in section,

of the front end of the board. Fig. 9 is a detailed plan view of the brace. Fig. 10 is a ,a detailed front elevation, and Fig. 11 is a longitudinal section of the leg-piece. Fig.

12 is a plan view, and Fig. 13 is a side elevation of a portion of the'rear end of the board, and Fig. 14 is a plan view of thefront 5 part of the board, showing in detail the cover stretcher. Fig. lo-is a sectional elevation taken on line 15-15 of Fig. 13. Fig. 16 is a section through line 16l6 of Fig. 13. Fig. 17 is a detalled front view, partly in section, of the clamping bar for the rear end of the covering. Fi 18 is a section taken on line 1818 of'Fig. 17.

The reference letter a indicates an ironing-board which may have any desired contour, but the usual and most convenient form for general use is that shown, being rectangular at its rear end, and having a curvilinear taper to a more narrow front end. Suitable lumber for such boards of wood is becoming scarce and expensive, so I make my board of metal, preferably a steel stamping,

which has other obvious advantages over wood besides the cost. In stamping out the board a the metal is first turned upwardly about its perimeter, then bent sharply downward, and finally folded up closely on the inside, as plainly shown in Fig. 5, thus forming a flange b about the entire board of double thickness, projecting slightly above its surface, and depending a greater distance below it. This flange 6 serves both as a strengthening girder and a finished edge; but in forming it the body of the sheet tends to buckle, so I form one or more shallow longitudinal grooves 2, and a plurality of intersecting shallow lateral grooves 33 in the flat part of the sheet, which not only add rigidity to the board, but also stretch the interior of the sheet toa perfect plane surface. The little grooves 2 and 3 may be filled with asbestos cement, or other suitable substance.

A padding 0 of asbestos, or other nonbustible and preferably electrically insulating material, is a'dhesively secured to the upper surface of the board a, being somewhat higher than the upper edge of the flange b. The usual cloth covering 6 may be stretched and retained upon the board by pressing a stretcher-clamp 03 down over it; and to remove the covering it is only neces sary to raise the stretcher d, and swing it upward on its hinges 4-4, as will be further described hereinafter.

It will be noticed that the cloth covering 6 does not extend to the extreme rear end of the board a; thus a section of the asbestos padding 0 is exposed, upon which a flat-iron, either electric or ordinary, may be rested without danger of scorching or making electrical contact. The rear end of the board also carries a metal strap 5 riveted, or othertoo wise secured, at each end to the board a, and having its middle portion raised sufiiciently to receive thereunder the rear feet 6-6 of a stand, or bracket g, of a sleeve-board The small board f may be of wood, or any suitable material; and its metal bracket 9 is firmly secured to the under side of its rear end, and has a front leg 7 provided with a foot 8, and two rear legs 9--9 each terminating in a flat rearwardly extended foot 6 adapted to slip under the strap 5, as plainly shown in Figs. 3, 4, 6 and 7. Thus a sleeveboard 7 may be quickly attached to, or detached from the main board a.

A metal plate It is welded, brazed, or otherwise fixedly secured to the under side of the board a near its rear end, and has a pair of depending ears wl-c', to which is hinged by loose rivets -10, or any suitable hinge-pin device, a channel-shaped metallic clamping and leg-holding member j. The wings of the member 7' are rounded at their rear ends and bent over, as at nn, to form broad-faced clamping jaws. A pad m, preferably of soft wood, is secured to the under side of the rear end of the board a, projecting a little below the bottom of the flange 6, and may be faced, if desired, with felt, leather, or material which will not mar a finished surface on which it may be clamped.

A light channel-iron Z is used to form both a leg and a clamping lever, being preferably tapered, as shown, and bent up at its lower end to form a foot 0. The upper end of the leg Z has parallel sides to form a socket slidably fitting the member j-or the member 7' may form the socket to receive the leg member, if preferred-and a plurality of holes dq and 1- in longitudinal alinement are drille or punched, in one or both of the members j and Z to receive a bolt 79 adapted to clamp said members together. The obvious purpose of the holes 9 and r is to permit close adjustment of the length of the leg Z; thus, only one hole may be made in either member 3' or Z to register with a number of holes in the other member, or a plurality of holes may be made in both members as shown.

Midway of the web portion of the leg member Z a ratch s is formed, having ratchet teeth over which a pawl or detent may slide readilv downward, but be prevented from rising. I prefer to stamp said teethin the metal of the sheet from which the leg member Z is formed, and raise them higher above the web at the lower end of the ratch than at the upper end of it, as shown. A brace t is hinged at 'v to the under side of the board a near its forward end, and the free end a of said brace servesa's a pawl to engage the ratch s. Said brace is preferably channelshaped metal, and made in two sections t and u, the one section fitting within the other, and held together by a bolt w adapted to be inserted-in one or another of a pluawaeee brace;

It should now be readily understood that, ya when the device is not in service, the brace t and leg Z fold up against the under side of the board a, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, so that the board may be stowed in a small space. To make ready for use it is as only necessary to rest the rear end of the board a upon the edge 10 of a table, windowsill, shelf, or other convenient and suitable support, drop the leg Z, which swings the jaws m, underneath the supporting ledge 10; 55 then raise the front end of the board to a level position, whereupon the brace t falls by gravity into engagement with the proper tooth of the ratch s, the foot 0 rests upon the floor, and the ledge 10 is tightly clamped at between the pad m and the. jaws n, as'shown in full lines in Fig. 2.

Thus a firm and rigid structure is provided, while interfering supports are dispensed with; and, when the proper adjustments of the lengths of the leg member and the brace member have once been made, the device will take hold of its supporting ledgeo and fall into place without effort. By slightly elevating the front end of the board a and, at the same time, raising the brace t, the end a of said brace will disengage the ratchet teeth, and thereby release the clamp j.

The cover stretching and holding means we comprise a clamping strip or? closely fitted to the contour of the sides and front end of the board a; but I prefer to employ a pair of binder strips (Z of hard wood, one on each side of the board and connected together at 1W their forward ends by a metal bar, or strap,

11, which fits the front end of the board and has a socket 12 at each end to receive the respective ends of the strips d, which latter are secured in said sockets by screws, or 11% other means. Hinge members with similar 7 metallic sockets lfl are secured to. the rear ends of the strips oZ respectively by screws 13. The inner faces of the hindered and 11 should be fiat, and terminate above and be- 1% low in angular corners; and, to further grip the covering, one or more longitudinal grooves 15' of rectangular cross-section may e formed in their said inner faces, as in Figs. 15 and 16.

Were the ends of the binder d hinged directly to the board 0; there would be no means for retaining the rear end of the covering e, and the covering would wrinkle and pull out of place. So I hinge the members araaeee 14 by suitable hinge-pins 16 to the front ends of links 17 respectively, and said links are each hinged to the board a at their rear ends by hinge pins, or bolts 4. A gripper, or holding bar 21-, preferably of channel-section lies across the board a, and has its ends flanged downward to form hinge-ears 22, which ears are hinged respectively by loose rivets, or ins 23 to the middle portions of the links 1 On one depending wing of the channel-bar 21, or if said bar is not channelshaped, then on its under side, sharp-pointed teeth 24 are formed projecting below the bar sufiiciently to engage the cover cloth. Thus the entire stretching and clamping meanssmoothly across the board. For a board of 4 ordinary size and shape it is found that the latter,

binder enough a ong its straight sides. To-remedy this defect I find it necessar to provide one or more clench-brackets, or eepers, on each of the straight sides of the board a, comprising respectively an outwardly and upwardly projecting, and slightly tapered tongue 18 having preferably a base 19 secured tothe flange b of the board by rivets 20. The tongues 18, being inclined as'shown, force the binders 03 toward the flanges b, and thereby clamp the cover e tightly as said binders are pressed down. into them.

I further point out and distinctly claim as my invention :1

1. An ironing board, a jaw-member hinged to the under side of said board adapted to clamp beneath the rear end of the board to secure the same to an extraneous support, a.

leg-member adjustablv' secured to said jawmember and disposed beneath the jaws of the and an, adjustable brace-member adapted to interlock between her and the forward part of said board.

does not hug the board closely said leg-mem QJAn ironing board formed of a single metal sheet comprising a plane surface, and a flange formed of double thickness of said sheet at right anglesto and surrounding said plane surface. v a

3. An ironing board formed of a single metal sheet comprising a plane surface, and.

a flange of double thickness at rlght angles to and surrounding said plane surface, said flange being raised slightly above and extended a surface.

4. An-ironing board formed of a, single metal sheet comprising a plane surface, a flange of double thickness at right angles to and surrounding said plane surface, said flange being raised slightly above and extended a greater distance below said plane surface, and a non-combustible padding on said plane surface substantially flush with the upper edge of said flange.

greater distance below said plane 5. An ironing board, a cover-holding frame hinged to the rear end portion of said board, and a stretcher-band hinged to said frame and adapted to embrace the sides and front end of said board.

6. An ironing board, a pair of links oppositely disposed and hinged to the rear portion of said board, a cover-holding bar extended across said board and operatively connected to said links, and a stretcher-band embracing said board and hinged to said 7. An ironing board, cover-holding and stretching means attached to said board includin' a hinged band formed to embrace the si es and front end of said board, and one or more keepers on each sideof said board formin in effect sockets adapted to receive said iand and wedge the latter against said board as the band is pressed down into said sockets,

In testimony whereof Iafiix my signature inthe presence of .two subscribing witnesses at Cleveland, Ohio, this 8th day of March,

. HENRY ERNEST PAULI. Witnesses:

Joma C. Vnssr, E. Wonrfimoron. 

